Ramblings of a Weekend Warrior

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12 Hours of Ithaca Races Report

What a fun race. Finally a course that didn’t kill my overweight body with climbs. I actually made my goal of 18 laps and actually had enough time to get one more lap in. However my body didn’t have one more lap in it. I did a number of things much better that I did at the 12 Hours of Addison Oaks. 1. Nutrition. This time I used Clif Shot Gels and Blocks and Power bars. 2. Chamois Butter. Enough said 🙂 3. Had 2 CO2 cartridges on hand. The mistakes: 1. All of the Gels had caffeine which was fine during the race, but when I tried to sleep after, it was next to impossible. 2. Overinflated tires. – Brought the pressure down to 45 psi at about hour 6 which made the very bumpy trail much more comfortable.

There were a number of significant events. I took about a 1 inch thorn through the rear tire about a quarter of a mile into the first lap. Instead of changing it there, I pushed back to my pit area to change the flat in the comfort of my pit. Later I stopped and gave a CO2 shot to a guy who’s name I didn’t catch after he took a thorn in his front tire. Then I stopped for Jody who had forgotten her camelbak which had her spare tube in it. I gave her my spare tube and helped her change it out. I finished the lap before she did, but as I passed her team’s pit the next time, she had told her team and they were cheering for me. In fact they continued to cheer for me every time I rode by. Well worth the price of a tube. Things went well through the 9th hour until another thorn found my rear tire. Two flats and I still made my goal. It was a fun race and I am very glad I did.